EU leaders are preparing for a difficult start to 2018 when heads of state weigh new measures to deal with illegal migration. But the European Commission and European Council leaders agree that they want to avoid putting migration proposals to a vote that could divide member states.

The Commission on Wednesday (27 September) made no proposals to continue with the divisive mandatory refugee relocation system and instead focused on resettlement, which means taking candidate refugees from outside the EU, on a non-mandatory basis.

The Czech Republic has not relocated a refugee for more than a year and remains in breach of its legal obligations. The Czech position remains the same despite the ruling of the Court of Justice supporting the Commission's migrant relocation policy. EURACTIV.cz reports.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, whose government committed acts of obvious violence against migrants before the country isolated itself behind a border wall, accused the EU of “violence” in imposing a plan to relocate migrants.

It makes no sense to share a burden over which we have no control, the Czech government said in response to the criticism of its failure to comply with EU migrant relocation quotas. EURACTIV Czech Republic reports.

In the margins of the Western Balkans summit in Trieste, Italy's Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni criticised fellow EU member states on Wednesday (12 July) for leaving his country to grapple with the migrant crisis, despite pledges made by France and Germany.

Migration routes have shifted to Italy, and the country is putting pressure on its EU peers to share the burden. But most migrants arriving in Italian ports are ineligible for relocation, as they come from countries with very low recognition rates of asylum claims, EU officials said Wednesday (5 July).

The European Commission warned yesterday (6 June) it could sanction member states that don’t follow EU quota rules for asylum seekers by opening infringement proceedings against them as early as next week.